


Therapy of the Body and Soul

by AnnaOnTheMoon, GottaHaveAName



Series: Broken Chains [6]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Recovery, Romance, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-29 04:59:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14465553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaOnTheMoon/pseuds/AnnaOnTheMoon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/GottaHaveAName/pseuds/GottaHaveAName
Summary: Another installment in the Broken Chains series.  We pick up after Pennies from Heaven.  Jean-Luc is slowly recovering, with the help of Beverly.





	Therapy of the Body and Soul

**Author's Note:**

> Slightly longer than the other installations because I couldn't stop writing. 
> 
> We left off with Beverly discovering her birth control implant was expired, and Jean-Luc noticing Beverly has actually moved in to his quarters.

Beverly beckoned Alyssa into her office and closed the door before shutting the curtains.  “Please sit down.  I want you to think of me not as your boss, but as a friend.”

“I can do that.  What’s going on?  Did you and the Captain...”  Beverly nodded and Alyssa grinned. “I’m so pleased for you!” 

“Thank you. We’re trying to keep it low key for now...at least until we file the god awful forms.”

“What forms?”

“Oh, I suppose you and your husband never had to do them. Since Jean-Luc is my direct superior and I have the power to remove him from duty, we have to fill out papers to send to Starfleet to tell them we are in a relationship.  It’s all very boring.  But, it has to be filed and we’ve decided to hold off a little so we can enjoy some privacy.” 

“And if you were pregnant?”  Beverly shook her head. “Huge issue.  I mean, you know the rules.”  Both women recited “ _all single staff must receive reproduction inhibitors”_ and rolled their eyes.  The policy was drilled into them from the time they were cadets, and even more so once they had chosen to go into medicine.  There were few areas where exceptions were made – for example, if there was a medical reason not to fit one as was the case for Jean-Luc.  If Beverly had discovered she was pregnant, they would have had to have filed immediate paperwork to declare their relationship. 

“Could you imagine if the ship’s Captain and Chief Medical Officer were the ones to break the rules?” 

“I see where that could be a problem.  But you’re not pregnant.  So just get a new implant and you’ll be fine.”  Beverly hedged her response. “Well....”

“Tell me.”

“It’s still a little more complicated.  Earlier today,  Jean-Luc and I were talking and he mentioned wanting to marry me and have a baby and I didn’t actually say no.  I told him not yet, but...we _are_ getting older.  Wouldn’t it make sense to just not renew my birth control,  get married at the next starbase  and see what happens?” 

“Is that what you want?”  Beverly shook her head. “I don’t know.  I only just moved my things into his quarters this morning and while we’ve been in love with each other since...well, look at how old my son is, add a few years, and there’s your answer...I don’t know if it’s moving too fast.  Shouldn’t we enjoy our relationship and get a chance to be ourselves before we add a baby to the equation?” 

“Well...that does sound like the kind of advice a young couple would be given, but you and the Captain have known each other....”

“Forever.  I met Captain Picard when I was a second year cadet.  So does that mean we don’t need the time alone before we try adding a baby?” 

“I don’t know.  Can I be frank with you?”  Beverly nodded. “Most of the lower decks have assumed you and Captain Picard were dating since the ship was launched.  People thought you must have had a fight when you left for a year, though some rumours had it that you had gone off to have the Captain’s baby-“

“You’re kidding me?!”Alyssa looked at her hands. “I’m sorry. I probably should have said something.  And when you left Wes here...”

“People assumed Wesley was Captain Picard’s son.  He’s been facing some of those issues at the Academy. Especially when it got out that he was given a field commission to Ensign. But we’re not talking about Wes right now.  Although, maybe we should be...Wesley is almost 22.  If I have a baby with Jean-Luc, Wesley’s younger sibling will be at least 23 years younger than him -  Wes would be old enough to be a father himself! Is that really fair to Wes?  To have a baby with Jean-Luc, and be able to raise him or her with their father when Wesley never got that chance?”

“Doctor...”

“Please, when we’re talking like this, you _can_ call me Beverly.”  Alyssa blushed.  “Beverly,  I think  Wesley already considers the Captain to be his father and wouldn’t be upset or jealous if you had a baby with the Captain.”

“Thank you, Alyssa.  But that brings me back to the beginning. What do I do?  Do I put in a new implant, forget the scare happened and just don’t bother mentioning it?  I don’t like the idea of being dishonest, but...what if I tell him my implant expired and I put a new one in and he’s upset with me?  I mean, I know it’s my body, but...shouldn’t he get to have some say in it now that we’re involved?  Or do I leave it, go home, tell him it lapsed and then we make the decision together?  But then we would have to refrain from sex tonight if I didn’t have an active implant and that’s...” Beverly noticed Alyssa turning red.  “Perhaps that’s a little too much information about your commanding officers.”

“Sorry, Sir.  Ah, Beverly.”   Beverly sighed. “I suppose I know what I have to do. I should go and talk to Jean-Luc. Tell him my implant expired and then we can make an informed decision together.  I suppose I could take the implant and the device with me and do it myself if we decide I should have one again....”

“Call me.  I know how to insert them and I can come and do it.”  

“Even if you’re off-duty?”

“Beverly...please.  Let me do this for you.  I know you would do the same for me.” Beverly grinned. “Thank you, Alyssa.  I suppose I better send the reminders out to everyone else who got flagged up and then turn Sickbay over to Selar and get home.  I have a discussion to have with my....” Beverly trailed off. 

“Boyfriend?”  Beverly laughed. “Alyssa, the man is in his 50s. I’m in my 40s.  ‘Boyfriend’ hardly sounds appropriate.”

“You could call him your fiancé.”  Beverly coloured. “I could, but...not yet. I called him my plutonic life partner before we....well, before, but that’s no longer applicable now that we’re together .  I guess I’ll continue to call him my partner until I can call him my husband.”  Beverly reached out and squeezed Alyssa’s hand. “Thank you, Alyssa. You’ve been a great friend to me this afternoon.”

###

Beverly entered Jean-Luc’s, no, _her_ quarters she corrected herself and tossed her lab coat onto the back of a chair. “Jean-Luc? I’m home! Where are you?”

“Over here!”  Beverly rounded the corner into the alcove where they had set up the wax therapy and was pleasantly surprised to find Jean-Luc had his hands in the soft paraffin.  “How long have you had them in?”

“Not long . They hurt and I figured you would have me do this if I complained. Sorry.  Should I have waited for you?”  Beverly smiled. “No, you did the right thing . But what did you do that made them hurt?  You were supposed to come home and relax after working a half day.  How much work did you do earlier?”

“Not much.  I tracked down my couch and Livingston – did you know the children were taking care of him?”  Beverly grinned. It had been her idea to put Livingston in the classroom temporarily and to tell the children they were doing a very important job for their Captain.  She wondered if he had gone to retrieve his fish himself or if he had Will do it.  “And I, uh, napped.” Beverly grinned. “But you don’t nap.”  He grumbled about being tired, and she leaned over and kissed him gently.  “Alright, but all of that shouldn’t have made your hands ache. What else did you do?”

“Take a look.”  Jean-Luc used his chin to point into the room.  Beverly looked around and gasped. “Jean....Jean-Luc?” 

“I asked Deanna to bring over some more of your belongings and I made room for them.  I, ah, noticed the blanket.  And the picture.  And the closet....I hope I get to take you out in that dress.”  Beverly straddled his lap and rested her head on his shoulder. “You’re really too good to me, you know that?”

“No,  it’s you who is far, far, too good to me.”  Beverly debated bringing up the birth control, but not while Jean-Luc’s hands were trapped.  She wrapped his hands in the terry mitts again and settled down on his lap with her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. “Hello, my love.”

“Hello.”

“Have a good day?”

“Erm...we’ll talk about it after we finish your hand therapy, all right? You were smart in having it a second time today. In fact, I think I will get you some heated mitts tomorrow so you can use those instead of the paraffin if I’m not here to help you.  I spoke with Data today. He created a therapy pool holodeck program for you so we can use it uninterrupted. “ Jean-Luc smiled.  “I think that would be fun.”

“Fun, yes, but we actually will have to do the therapy exercises.  Should we go before dinner?”  Jean-Luc nudged her chin with his terry cloth clad hand so she was looking at him. “But will you tell me what’s on your mind, first?”  She nodded. 

“Let’s get the mitts off.  We’ll skip the ice therapy for now.” 

“Good.”  Beverly rose from his lap and began the task of removing the wax from his hands . She stroked his hands gently. “One added benefit, the wax is really making your hands soft.”  He cupped her cheek.  “And they’re getting stronger.” 

“Why don’t we go over to the couch and I’ll massage your hands while we talk.”  Beverly thought it might be easier if she had to concentrate on something else while talking. Jean-Luc nodded and when he stood he pulled her against him and kissed her again. “Missed you.”  Beverly rolled her eyes.  “It was only a few hours.  You realise we regularly sit twelve-hour shifts or longer where we might not see each other, right?” 

“Oh, I’m sure I can come up with a reason to see my Chief Medical Officer several times per day.  Now, please tell me what’s on your mind?”   Beverly picked up his hand in hers and started gently massaging and bending his fingers and took a deep breath.  “It’s about...birth control.”

“Birth control?  Well, you know I can’t use a suppressor due to my heart...”

“I know. It’s about mine. It’s...expired.” 

“I see.  Ah...Beverly, that’s distracting, can you stop?” 

“No.”  Jean-Luc took his free hand and lifted Beverly’s chin so he was looking at her.

“Beverly, my love, are we?”  She shook her head and fought back tears.  “No,” she managed to whisper out.  Jean-Luc freed his hand from hers and pulled her into his lap.  He brushed away her tears. “I...didn’t know you wanted to...I thought you wanted to wait?”

“I did, too.  But then the computer flagged up the reminder that my implant expired and for a fleeting moment I thought that we...”  She took a deep breath before continuing.  “I didn’t have the new implant put in yet. I thought we should talk about it first.”

“Beverly...I want nothing more than to marry you and have a baby with you.  But you said you wanted to wait this morning.  What...what changed your mind?”

“Jean-Luc,  I’m _old! We’re_ old!”  Jean-Luc chuckled.  “Sweetheart, we’re not.  We’re only middle aged.” 

“We’ve wasted so much time we could have had!”  Jean-Luc deeply kissed her. “It wasn’t wasted.  We just...weren’t ready.  We were together....just not... _together_.”  Beverly grinned. “That’s one way of putting it.”

“So...no birth control right now?”

“None.”

“So if I were to make love to you right now...”  Beverly scrunched up her face. “If you want accurate calculations, you’ll have to call Data, but considering we’ve slept together four times in the past 24 hours and not become pregnant....it’s a possibility, though factoring in my age...about ten percent.”

“And how long does it take for an implant to be active?” 

“Just a few minutes, really.  Once it’s in, it’s in.”  Jean-Luc brought her hands up to his lips.  “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“I think...I think we should wait.  Just...a little bit.  Until I’m...better?  I wouldn’t...I wouldn’t want you to be burdened caring for an infant and caring for your husband if my recovery takes a long time and I can’t help you.” Beverly nodded, then her eyes went wide  “Huh....husband?”

“Yes, my love.  I know you said it was too soon, but...I want nothing more than to be your husband and to call you my wife.”  

“I guess that would be ok.”

“Ok?”

“Well....this is hardly the most romantic proposal, is it?” Jean-Luc grinned. “No, I suppose not.  Tell you what, when I can hold my own utensils again, I’ll plan us a romantic dinner and I’ll do the whole down on one knee thing.  But for now....can I call you my fiancée?” Beverly nodded.  “I think I’d like that.”  Their lips met in a passionate kiss and Beverly reached for the zip on the back of Jean-Luc’s uniform and tugged it down as she continued to kiss him.  “Beverly, my love,” Jean-Luc broke off the kiss. “Should we do this now?  Or wait until you have your new implant?”  Beverly sighed.

“Suppose we shouldn’t tempt fate.”  Beverly tapped her badge. “Crusher to Ogawa.”  Jean-Luc raised his eyebrows. Beverly was in his lap with his shirt unzipped and calling her head nurse?

“ _Yes, Doctor?”_

“Remember what we talked about earlier?”

_“I’ll be there right away.  Ogawa out.”_

“There.  Alyssa will be here with the implant and she’ll have it in me in a jiff.”  Jean-Luc coloured. “You mean...Alyssa knows...”

“Jean-Luc, Alyssa was here this morning when I was getting dressed. I don’t think our sexual relationship is a secret from her.  Besides, you said you trusted her.”

“I guess so. Do you want to get off my lap?”

“Nope.”  The door chime went off.  Deciding to see if Jean-Luc had added her voice print to the door she called “Enter.”  The door opened and Beverly grinned. He had. 

“I came right away.” Alyssa carried a black case over to Beverly and Jean-Luc and laid it on the coffee table.

“And you have everything?”

“Yep. Ready?” 

“Jean-Luc? I know you don’t like needles. You don’t have to watch.” 

“I’m....a bit fascinated if I’m honest.  So that,” he pointed at the small ribbon in a sterile field, “is a birth control implant? And it lasts for several years?” 

“Yep. This one is a ten-year strip as that’s mandatory from Starfleet, but we can have it removed at any time.” 

“Would you put the same strip back in after you have a baby?” Beverly shook her head. “No. It would be contaminated as soon as it hit the air.  You just insert a new strip.” 

“What do the men have?  I...ah...never had one.”

“Not even when you were a cadet?” Jean-Luc thought about it.  “Oh, I suppose so. I’m sorry, I don’t remember.”  Beverly turned and kissed him and he blushed in the presence of Alyssa.  “That’s alright.  Men have a similar strip, only instead of inhibiting the forming of a uterine lining and the dropping of an egg, it keeps their sperm count low.”

“But they can still....” he gestured to his crotch and Beverly laughed. “Yep.  A term they used in the twentieth century to describe a man with a low sperm count was ‘shooting blanks’.”

“Ah, I understand.” 

“Right then. Let’s get this in me.  Alyssa, you’ll have to extract the old one first.” 

“Certainly, Doctor.” Alyssa activated a sterile field over her hands and applied a hypospray to numb Beverly’s arm.  She gently made the small incision and used a pair of tweezers to extract the strip.  She then picked up the new strip with the tweezers, and using a second clean pair, inserted the strip into a syringe with a needle on the end.  Jean-Luc watched in fascination as the strip was inserted and Alyssa applied a dermal regenerator to Beverly’s arm. 

“Done?”

“Yep.  All done.  I’ll just, ah...be going....”  Alyssa put away her equipment and sealed the old strip in a sterile disposal unit.

“Thank you, Alyssa.”

“Yes, thank you, Nurse Ogawa.  Can I get you a drink before you go?  Tea? Coffee?”

“No, ah, thank you, Captain....I need to get back...”  

“Of course. Some other time.”  Alyssa flushed as she realised the Captain’s top wasn’t zipped up at the back and wondered how long it would be before they would...no, she wasn’t going to think about her superiors like that.  “Doctor Crusher, will I see you in the morning?”

“Yes, I think so.  I’m going to work half days for now so I can assist Jean-Luc.”

“You mean, I’ll be alone?”  Beverly laughed. “I thought you might like to work half days in your Ready Room?”  He grinned and leaned down to kiss her, heedless of Alyssa’s presence. 

Alyssa made her way to the door. “I’ll just...see myself out.  Goodnight, Captain, Doctor.”

The door slid shut. “Where were we?”

“I think, Captain, you were about to see if you’ve regained the ability to grasp and were about to undress me.” 

“What about the therapy pool?”

“It can wait...”

###

Jean-Luc leaned back against the wall of the therapy pool, pleased with himself.  He still felt like his fingers wouldn’t quite do what he wanted them to earlier, but Beverly didn’t seem to mind and he had even managed on top for a few minutes until his shoulders gave out. He would have fallen onto Beverly if she hadn’t quickly rolled them over. He had been upset, but she kissed his frown away and laughed.    They were now in a whirlpool therapy pool with the jets gently massaging his back and Beverly’s back pressed up against his chest. 

“You know I’m not really helping you with your therapy sitting like this.”  Jean-Luc ducked his head and nuzzled her neck.  She had piled her thick red tresses on top of her head, leaving her neck exposed and he couldn’t get enough of the milky skin.  He lightly bit. “Hey, be careful.  I bruise easily.”

“Mm, then everyone will know you’re mine.”  Beverly rolled her eyes and turned around to face him. “Everyone already _knows_ I’m yours. Besides, I’m not a possession.  You’re just as much mine as I am yours.” 

“ _Everyone_?”

“Yep,” she punctuated her word with a nip on his throat. “Apparently, Wesley is actually your child, I left in ’64 to have our child, oh, and  we’ve been secretly married since Jack died.”  She nipped his throat again and he moaned from the sensation of pleasure and pain. 

“Is that all?”  Jean-Luc moved his hands in front of the jets and let the water pulse against them and he practiced making fists under the water like Beverly had instructed him to while she continued to lick, suck, and bite his neck.  “I was asked while you were away what I had done to make you upset.” 

Beverly laughed against his neck.  “And I never told you while I was at Medical, the number of people who asked if we were ok.”  She bit down hard again and he moaned.  “Hey, what if I bruise?”

“Hmm. Fair’s fair. Besides, I have a dermal regenerator.”

Jean-Luc’s hands slid to Beverly’s shoulders and he clumsily tugged down the straps on her simple one piece.  _“Jean-Luc!”_

“What?”

“We’re in the therapy pool!” 

“Beverly, my love, we’re on the holodeck. The room is sealed to our voice prints....” 

“True. But If I’m getting naked, so are you!”  Her hands slipped under the water to his waistband and she slowly lowered his shorts and tossed them out of the pool.  “I...ah...oooooooooh”  Jean-Luc let out a moan as the jet made contact with his bare skin. 

“Felt good, didn’t it?” Jean-Luc blushed. “It was.... _interesting_.”   Beverly removed her suit and sent it flinging to join his shorts with a splat and she laughed. “You know, I’ve never been in one of these naked.”  

“Mm, I’m contemplating replacing the sonic shower with one of these.” 

“Wouldn’t fit. I already measured.”  Jean-Luc frowned.  “But, we could have a smaller bath?” 

“Hmm, you’d have to talk to engineering, but...it would be beneficial to your recovery...”

“Would it be big enough for two?”

“I think we would make it work.” Beverly brought her lips to his once more.  “But we really _should_ work on those exercises.”

“If we have to.”

“We do. Come on, put your hands out in front of you, but in the water.”  Jean-Luc sighed, but followed Beverly’s directions. “Curl and uncurl your fists in three reps of five.” 

“Hey, this is easy.”  Beverly grinned. “It’s the water.  It increases your buoyancy.  All your exercises will be easier in the pool, but they’ll still have the same effect.  Ok, now I want you to turn over and grasp the edge of the pool as best as you can and let your body float behind you. Got it?”  Jean-Luc nodded and when his rear floated out of the water Beverly couldn’t help herself and she reached out and pinched it. “Hey!” 

“Sorry.” 

“You’re not.”  Beverly could only grin as she moved to his side.  “Now I want you to kick. Start slowly at first, but increase your speed.” 

“Beverly, my legs are fine.”  Beverly sighed. “What did I tell you about working all parts of your body?” 

“Alright, I’ll do it. But I feel like a child.”  Beverly laughed. “A child, naked in a whirlpool with his equally naked wife?”  Jean-Luc smiled. “You called yourself my wife.”

“Well..that’s what I’ll be eventually.  It won’t be hard for me to call you my husband.  You’ve been in my heart a long time, Jean-Luc Picard.  Now kick.”

“Yes, dear.” After a few kicks, Jean-Luc was feeling the strain on his shoulders, and he told Beverly.  “Stop then.  Sit back down and get your shoulders against the jets.” 

“Mm, I’d feel better if you were over here in my arms.”  Beverly laughed, but straddled his lap and kissed him. Jean-Luc wiggled his eyebrows at her and moved his hands under the water, skimming her body.  “You said....the water makes....movement....easier?” 

 “Mm, you know as much as I love making love to you, if we keep it up at this rate, you’re going to make me sore.” 

“Isn’t that what the bath is for?” 

“Oh, you.” 

###

“Sir, we are approaching Earth’s orbit.” 

“Thank you, Mister Data.” Data turned his inquisitive eyes to his Captain.

“Sir, why have we returned to Earth?”

“Doctor Crusher and I have an important meeting to attend.”

“Sir, is this about your pending nuptials?”  Will Riker tried to hide his smile and Worf pretended to look the other way, leaving it to Deanna to answer. “Data, we don’t ask people questions like that.”

“I see. But are the Captain and Doctor Crusher not getting married?” 

“Eventually, Data. Yes. Beverly and I would like to get married. But for now...we have to obtain permission given our positions and we need to tell Wesley about our relationship.”  Jean-Luc slowly rose from his center seat.  He was still only working half days, but he was slowly getting stronger and his hands were responding well to the on-going therapy.  Beverly had agreed to perform the delicate wrist operations after they returned from their meetings as she felt his wrists were finally strong enough to handle the recovery.  “Number One, you have the bridge.  I’ll be in my quarters, changing.”

“Of course, Sir.”    Jean-Luc entered the turbolift and pressed his badge “Picard to Crusher.”

_“Crusher here.”_

“We’re nearing Earth.  I’m returning to our quarters to change into my dress uniform.” 

 _“I’ll meet you there to get changed. Crusher out.”_   Jean-Luc’s fingers still weren’t quite able to work the delicate clasps on the top of his uniform, but Beverly would help him.

Jean-Luc sighed as Beverly clipped the neck shut. He would have preferred to wear his duty uniform, but when you get called into a meeting with the top brass, you’re expected to wear a dress uniform. 

“Jean-Luc, what will we do if they tell us we can’t be together and serve together?  I won’t do another long-distance marriage.  Especially if you’re serious about us having a baby.  I won’t raise another child alone.”  Jean-Luc tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Simple. I’ll resign.”

“What?”

“They won’t have a problem if the Chief Medical Officer of the _Enterprise_ has her spouse living with her on the ship, considering the whole purpose of the galaxy class ships was to allow for families to live together.“

“You would do that?  Why not have me resign instead?” 

“I would never ask you to give up your job for me.”  Beverly leaned over and gave him a soft kiss. “Thank you. But I think if they tell us they won’t approve it, we’ll both resign. I can be a doctor anywhere.  You can become an archaeologist or help Robert at the vineyard...”  Jean-Luc grasped her hands lightly in his.  “You would do that?  Give up your Starfleet Career?”

“ _You_ were ready to.  Why shouldn’t I?”  Jean-Luc grinned.  The admiralty wouldn’t know what hit them.  He ran his hands down her sides and grabbed her hips.  “You know, this uniform would look so much better on you if you didn’t have to wear the trousers.”  Beverly laughed. “You mean, like the skant?” 

Jean-Luc’s eyes gleamed. “Yes.” 

“Hmm. Only if you wear one.”

“What?”

“The skant is not gender specific.  If you want _me_ to wear one, so do you.”

“Beverly, my love...the Captain of a starship can’t be seen with his legs out.”  Beverly smirked.  “Walker wore one.” 

“We were younger, then.  And he only did it because he lost a game of poker with Jack and me when we were all visiting you and Wes.”  Jean-Luc’s eyes glazed over as he remembered the good times he had with his fallen friends.  Beverly could sense he was heading into melancholy territory and quickly pulled him out of it.  “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

“What is?”

“We’ll play for it. If you win, I wear the skant.  But if _I_ win... _you_ have to wear one.”

“Beverly, that’s hardly fair.  You play every week with the senior staff.  I haven’t played in...well, it’s been years.  You’d have the advantage.  My skills are rusty.”

“Hmm. You know, Jean-Luc, you _could_ join us anytime you want.  We wouldn’t turn you away.”  Jean-Luc looked thoughtful for a moment. “I always thought it was best for you to have time where you could all relax without your Captain.”

“I prefer relaxing _with_ my Captain...”  She leaned over and kissed him.  “We’ll discuss this later. Come on, I can’t wait to see Wes.”  Jean-Luc groaned. “You’re sure you want us to tell him together?”

“Yes.  Come on, you can’t possibly be afraid of Wes.  For god’s sake, you used to change his diapers.”  Jean-Luc chuckled and grabbed her hand and squeezed it.  She smiled.  He had been able to give her hand little squeezes for the past few days.  “I know, Bev.  I just...what if he’s _not_ ok with this?” 

Beverly rolled her eyes. “Jean-Luc.  Wesley thought we had been dating since he was a child.  I don’t think he’s going to protest. Come on, be the confident Captain I love.”  Jean-Luc could only grin.   It was still so new and utterly brilliant to hear Beverly declare her love openly. 

They materialised onto the arrivals pad at the campus and strode towards Wesley’s dorm. Naturally, they had to speak with every person they passed and by the time they got to Wes’s dorm, the rumours were flying that they were there to pickup Wes so they could get married. 

The door to Wesley’s room was opened by his roommate, a sandy-haired boy named Tom Paris.  Tom happened to be the son of Admiral Owen Paris, one of the admirals they would be seeing later that day. 

“Captain Picard, Doctor Crusher.  Wes said you would be coming to see him.  Come in, come in.”

“Mom, Captain, this is my roommate, Tom Paris.”  Jean-Luc put his hand out to shake the young man’s hand. “Paris? Not Admiral Paris’..?  Tom nodded. “Yes, sir.  Admiral Paris is my father.  You know, it was a good idea the way you had Wesley register for the academy under his mother’s name, but everyone here knows he’s your son.  That’s why we’re rooming together.  They thought it would be best to put the famous kids together.”

“Ah, famous?”

“Sure. Well, famous parents I should say.”  Jean-Luc raised his eyebrows at Tom while the words slowly sunk in.  Wesley, realising what Tom was saying quickly cut in. “Tom, would you mind leaving  us alone for a bit?” 

“Nah,  of course not. I’ll be back in about ...an hour?”  Wesley nodded. 

“Nice meeting you, Captain, Doctor.” 

“You too, Cadet.”   Wesley closed the door behind Tom and turned to his mother and the man he had regarded as a father for so many years. “I’m sorry about Tom. He....”  Jean-Luc reached out and clapped Wesley on the shoulder. “It’s alright, Wes.  I suppose I should feel flattered that people think you are my son, but how does that make you feel?” 

“Alright, I guess.  I mean, I never really knew Dad and you’ve been around my whole life...but it’s weird when people call me Cadet Picard.  Or ask me stuff about you.”  Jean-Luc raised his eyebrows. “Stuff?”

“Yeah.  People want to know all sorts of weird things.  But I usually just tell them we prefer our lives to be kept private...was that right?”  Jean-Luc patted Wesley’s shoulder. “Yes, son. That was _exactly_ right.” Wesley grinned.

“Wes, why didn’t you just tell them that the Captain and I weren’t together and you weren’t his son?”  Wesley looked at his feet. “I don’t know, Mom.  I arrived and people just kept treating me really well and then I was assigned to room with Tom – he’s really cool – and....I’m sorry, Mom, Sir.  I can...I can tell people the truth.” 

“Wes, you don’t have to.  In fact, we came here to talk to you today before our meeting because we...”  Beverly trailed off and looked over at Jean-Luc.  He reached for her hand and lightly squeezed it.  “Wesley, what your mother is trying to say is that we’ve managed to come to our senses.”

“I don’t understand.”  Wesley looked at his mother and Captain with their hands entwined and realisation dawned on him. “You’re finally together.” 

“Finally?” 

“Mom....you told me you and the Captain....”

“I know what I said, Wes. And at the time, it was the truth.  Jean-Luc and I _did_ have a platonic partnership....but we both were deeply in love with the other and never told each other.”

“Why?” 

“Well...there were many factors....” 

“Because of Dad?”

“I never told your mother how I felt because I had this loyalty to your father’s memory, and I was worried about tarnishing it.” 

“Oh.  I mean, I know I didn’t know Dad as well as you two, but I think Dad would have wanted you to be happy...right? “  Beverly smiled with tears in her eyes and drew Wesley into a tight hug.  “You are wise beyond your years Wes.  So this doesn’t bother you?” 

“No.  I wanted you guys to get together when I was a kid.  Does this mean I get to call the Captain Dad?  I mean...you’re getting married, right? That’s why you’re here in your dress uniforms? Should I change into mine?”  Jean-Luc chuckled at the boy’s enthusiasm. 

“Wesley, I want to marry your mother very much, but we’re actually here to have a meeting with the admiralty about it...strictly speaking, your mother and I shouldn’t be involved due to our positions.”

“Oh.  But...it doesn’t matter, right?  I mean, they’ll just see how well you work together?” 

“We don’t know.  They could forbid the relationship.  In which case, I’m prepared to resign so I can be with your mother-“

“I’m going to resign as well if that happens.  I can practice medicine anywhere.”

“Should I resign too? I mean, I don’t want to be in an organization that won’t let two people who love each other be together.”  Jean-Luc  smiled at Wesley. “Thank you, Wes. But I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“Ok.  Hey, if you get married, then they can’t prevent your relationship!”

 _“Wesley Crusher!”_  Wesley shrugged and grinned.

“It was just a suggestion.”

 


End file.
